Return Forever
by dawnsama
Summary: Complete. Continuation of anime. Vash comes back with Knives. But Knives has plans of his own and why does he keep look at Meryl like that? Will Meryl finally admit her true feelings for Vash?
1. Vash IS BACK

A/N Hi everyone this is my first fanfic so please review! This takes place right at the end of the last episode of Trigun during the ending credits, so if you haven't seen it than I suggest you don't read this if you don't like spoilers. Again, REVIEW!!!

Return Forever 

A blast of water shot out of the well and cascaded through the air. People cheered with triumph as the water sprinkled over their heads like rain.

            "Look sempai!" said Milly. "We found water!"

            "That's wonderful Milly," agreed Meryl. She returned Milly's happy bear hug cheerfully. But the smile on her face was forced. If only _he _were here. She pretended that the tears pricking her eyes was from the droplets of water spraying everyone.

            "Sempai look over there," Milly shouted.

            Meryl looked and the smile on her face became genuine.

            In the distance over the dessert a blonde man could be seen walking toward the town. There was something slung over his shoulder but it wasn't hindering him. There was wide grin on his face as he waved.

            "It's Vash sempai, it's Vash-san!" Milly squealed.

            Meryl barely stayed long enough to reply. She bounded through the cheering crowds to meet Vash.

            "Vash you came back," she shouted delightfully when she reached him.

            "I sure did," he said grinning. "I, Vash the Stampede, have returned the people once again!" he said starting to strut importantly. Meryl poked him teasingly. Then she noticed the body over his shoulder.

            "Vash, who _is _that?" Meryl said, walking around him to peer at the face.

            "This is my brother," Vash answered care freely.

            Meryl stared at him. "That's…_Knives_?" she asked, smile turning into fear.

            "Yep, that's Knives alright." They reached the town and the townspeople smiled at him but didn't approach due to the celebration of water.

            "But Vash-san, that's _Knives_, the one who's given you so much grief….what are going to do with him?" Meryl demanded. "What _happened?_ Is he even _alive_?" she asked, looking at his unmoving face.

            "Don't worry, Meryl-san. He's not dead. We just had a little duel. And I won!" he said, buffing up his chest.

            "Oh Vash."

            "Vash-san!" Milly bounded up to them, beaming.

            "Ah, Milly!" Vash greeted her. "I'm sorry Milly, I don't have Wolfwood's cross with me."

            "That's okay, Vash-san. Like I said before, it's full of mercy, and I'm sure all that mercy went to you so I don't need it anymore," Milly replied, traces of grief carefully hidden.

            "Yeah, I guess it did. But the mercy didn't go to me, it went to Knives here," he said, setting him down on his bed.

            "Oh, is that Knives-san? Well what do you know!"

            "Milly!" Meryl exclaimed. "That's _Knives!!_"

            "Why do you call him _Knives _Meryl-sempai?"

            "Oh never mind! And what are you laughing at, Vash?"

            Vash didn't even try to hide his laughter, he was positively bawling as he put the covers over the unconscious Knives.

            "Well Vash-san, you're laughing so hard you'll probably wake up Knives-san there," Milly remarked thoughtfully.

            "Oh I don't think so," Vash said.

            "Vash what _really _happened?" Meryl demanded.

            "Like I said Meryl-san, me and Knives had had little duel and I won. He became unconscious though."

            "So this is the famous Knives," Milly commented.

            "If you don't mind, miss Insurance girls, I'm going to leave him here and stay here till he wakes up," Vash told them.

            "But what will you do when he wakes up? What will he be _like _when he wakes up?" Meryl asked, glancing again at Knives.

            "Oh I don't know. Don't worry." Vash stretched out his arms. "I don't know about you but I'm _hungry like a bear_!!" Vash exclaimed. "Can we please eat something? You know it's hard living after a fight without anything to eat."

            "Oh Vash-san."

            They went out the door and settled down at small café.

            "My word Vash-san," Milly said. "You certainly are very hungry."

            "Om _wavrnos_," Vash agreed.

            "What's that?"

            Vash swallowed. "I'm ravenous! Gosh this is so good!" He proceeded to stuffing his face up.

            Meryl laughed. But inside she was beginning to become fearful. She was happy for Vash's return but she couldn't shake off fear for Vash had brought his greatest enemy into the house. What will happen when he wakes up? she thought. But for now, she kept her fears hidden.

*****

            Knives stirred. After Vash had shot him, the stupid, idealistic son of a bitch had picked him up! He was vaguely aware of two girls talking to Vash soon after. He would have said something but he couldn't move, he was simply too exhausted. Knives had begun to really lose consciousness right there, he had even forgotten that it was Vash who was carrying him. Someone had put him down and then all of sudden there was something soft under him. He now knew that that softness was a bed. Then there was more talking, footsteps, and finally a door slamming.

            Knives wanted to open his eyes but kept them closed. The people had returned and someone had walked into the room. Better to feign unconsciousness. 

            The person was watching him, he could feel a pair of eyes gazing at him, trying to pierce his skin. The person was standing near the bed too.

            Hm…

            Knives did an experiment. He fluttered his eyes ever so slightly but enough to make the person gasp. It was a high-pitched gasp: the person was female. 

            After a moment of eye flickering, he slowly opened one eye and focused it on the woman. He glared at her, piercing her gaze. The hate in Knives's eyes glazed for a moment. The woman was plainly frightened.

            She was familiar. He had seen that black-haired woman before with Vash. Ah, yes, he remembered her now. Meryl Strife, that was it.

            Knives slowly closed his eye and fell into a real sleep, her face swimming above him.

A/N well? what do you think?


	2. Napless

Hi Everyone!

I don't own Trigun! Don't sue me!

**Return Forever**

Meryl stood up and immediately left the room. She sagged against the wall, gasping in fear. Knives had looked at her! Glowered at him rather. So he wasn't completely unconscious…

            _What did Vash do to him?_

            "Oh, Meryl."

            Meryl jumped, startled, and spun around. Vash smiled at her antics.

            "What are you doing here?" he asked her.

            "Nothing," Meryl said quickly. Then she changed her mind. "Vash-san, Knives woke up! He opened an eye and stared at me! Why did you bring him here, Vash? He's obviously dangerous and after all he's done to you-"

            "Don't worry Meryl-san. I'll take care of him when he fully recovers," Van said cheerfully.

            Meryl narrowed her eyes dangerously. Vash stepped back at the look on her face.

            "Hehe, I'll just be going now," Vash said quickly and turned around but Meryl grabbed him just in time.

            "Stop avoiding the subject, baka! WHAT HAPPENED!" Meryl roared.

            "Gosh, you're so scary, Meryl," Vash complained.

            "WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED OVER THERE!!"

            "Okay okay, no need to shout," Vash said, pouting. "Like I said, we got into a gun fight and I beat him. I saw that he wasn't dead so I picked him up and brought him here. He IS my brother after all."

            "What are going to do?" Meryl asked.

            "I don't know," Vash answered bouncing. "I'll just be going now-"

            "VASH DON'T YOU _DARE_ RUN AWAY!"

"…Okay."

Meryl opened her mouth to yell at him some more but stopped, mouth half open. The door to Knives room had been shut tight but now it was half-open.

*****

            Knives had WANTED to take a nice short nap before terrorizing the household as he had planned to but loud shouting outside had prevented the nap. He listened with amusement to sound of the woman Meryl and Vash having their little conversation or their little lover's quarrel as Knives dubbed it to his amusement. Ah, the fear in Meryl's voice, it was refreshing really.

            "It's good to know the little spiders have fear," Knives said out loud to himself, for Meryl was obviously one of the little spiders in the world, those vindictive spiders. But there was nobody in the room to respond. Ah, well, that was all right.

            After listening to the lover's quarrel a bit more, Knives decided to make his presence known. It would be fun to play with the spider's heads a bit more. He got out of bed, opened the door, and peeked out.

            Meryl immediately froze in horror. Vash turned around and smiled brightly. 

            Knives sneered at the pair. "Can't anyone take a nap around here?" he asked.

            "…sorry,"Meryl said nervously.

            Knives smirked at her and shot her gleaming look. She twitched under his gaze uncomfortably.

            "So you're up, Knives," Vash said.

            "Yes, I  am," Knives said. "But I'm going to go back to sleep now. Good Night," he said to them. He started to close the door but paused. "Spiders," he added and closed the door completely.

**A/N Well? What do you think? Huh huh? I know it's really short but I'm concentrating more on my stories on fictionpress.com, so while you're reviewing this story, you can review my other stories on fp.com! REVIEW!!**


	3. Small Amounts of Truth

Thank you everyone who submitted reviews!

I love you guys! Except Nosynightingale who gave a weird review and I'm only mentioning this because that reviewer happens to be my sister. Don't worry! I can take criticisms!

This chapter is basically going to be informational, although this is the longest chapter I've done so far but then these chapters aren't long at all.

I don't own Trigun although I wish I owned Vash and Wolfwood!

One more thing, could you guys pleasepleaseplease review my stories on fictionpress.com? Thanks!

And now, onto the story!

**Return Forever**

Stirring the soup, Milly looked out the window and was received by a magnificent sunrise. She smiled to herself. Ah, such beauty. Milly wished Sempai and Vash-san could see it. He would like to see it too…

            Milly stopped that train of thought in horror. _Don'tthinkabouthim don'tthinkabouthim!_ She closed her eyes and tried to concentrate on the soup but her treacherous mind began to remember again. Before she could stop herself, pictures of Wolfwood began to circulate in her mind. That cocky but kind smile, the warmth in his eyes, the casual way he swung the cross over his shoulder… Who knew he would be capable of dying? Yes, that's right, he died…

            Giving the soup a final swirl, Milly walked up to the staircase and took a deep breath.

            "Sempai, Vash-san, breakfast is ready!" she shouted up.

            There was a groan from one room and a curse from the other. Milly smiled with satisfaction and went back to the kitchen.  She took one last look at the sunrise and smiled brightly. 

            "Good morning," she whispered cheerfully and closed her eyes, picturing Wolfwood's smiling face greeting her back. 

            "Uuuugggghhhhhhhh."

            Milly turned around and said chirpily, "Good morning sempai! I've made some soup for breakfast." With that, she slammed a bowl of soup in front of Meryl. "I hope you like it."

            "Ggguuuuuhhhhhh," said Meryl and shoved a spoonful into her mouth. 

            "Is Vash-san up yet?" Milly asked. 

            It took a moment for Meryl to realize that someone had spoken to her. "Wah? Oh. Sorry Milly I'm just really distracted since-" And then the previous day's incident bounced back to her. "Ohmigawd Milly it's Knives! He's not unconscious. I saw him up TWICE yesterday and he spoke to me! And that stupid Vash doesn't do a thing about it! We'regonnadiewe'regonnadie…"

            "WE ARE!"

            "SHUT UP VASH!" Meryl yelled behind her.

            Vash whimpered. "But I don't wanna die Meryl!" he whined back.

            Meryl seethed. She had been unceremoniously woken up by Milly's uncensored loudness and the day was not going well. She decided to use this opportunity to get answers out of Vash.

            Vash whimpered at the ferocious look that Meryl flashed him.

            "Okay Vash. _I want some answers._"

            "Oh, you do?"

            "I want to know what's going on. Why you brought Knives here for one thing."

            Seeing that Meryl was not going to back down and that so far nothing had coinsidentally interrupted them yet, Vash gave up and decided to come clean.

            "I already said that me and Knives had a gunfight-"          

            "_Then don't repeat yourself_."

            "And I won, see? But even though I had beaten him, I could just leave him there in the desert. Knives is my brother after all. I guess that's why I want to save him. I won't leave him there in the darkness, maybe I can save him. His mind, I mean, save his mind and purge all the darkness in it. He's always been that way, see?" 

Vash took a sip of the soup and told Milly that it was wonderful. Then he continued. 

"Knives is recovering very quickly, you saw Meryl, but even with his abilities, the wounds I gave him will still take a long time to heal. When he fully recovers, I'll take him away, he is of course still dangerous and I don't want him to be a danger to you girls."

            "But he'sdangerous _now_," Meryl snapped. "Vash, what if he tries to do something to you? What if he hurts you?"

            "You know I can protect myself," said Vash. "If need be, I'll protect you girls too."

            For some reason, Meryl began to blush. 

            _He said he would protect me!_ But he also meant Milly too. _Get a hold on yourself Meryl_!

            Inner struggle completed, Meryl sighed and finished her soup.

            "Well," said Milly. "Since you're done, could you send up a bowl of soup for Knives-san, Meryl?"

            "WHAT!" Meryl shouted. 

            "Well I'm sure he's very hungry. Evil or no, Knives still needs food," reasoned Milly.

            Meryl was about to protest if Vash had not commented that sending Knives was a good idea. So, grumbling, Meryl reluctantly trudged up the stairs. 

            She froze in front of Knives's room. _What am I doing? I'm giving food to Vash's worst enemy? _He's not Vash's worst enemy, her mind argued. He would have saved him. _But still…_

In the end, Meryl gathered her nerve and entered the room. Knives was lying on the bed, staring at the ceiling, arms tucked behind his neck. He closed his eyes when Meryl entered the room.

            After placing the bowl on the floor near the bed, Meryl paused and sneaked a peak at Knives. He looked so childlike, so relaxed, so innocent. But Meryl knew he wasn't innocent in the least. But there were so many similarities between Knives and Vash…

            It took a moment to realize that Knives had opened his eyes and was now staring at her. Meryl froze in shock.

            Knives's eyes flickered at her and then the bowl of soup and then her again. His eyebrows arched in some unknown emotion.

            Meryl finally started to act again and immediately sped to the door.

            "Thank you spider," came a soft call behind her. 

            Meryl looked over her shoulder at him and quickly exited the room. Outside, she shivered, frightened. There was that dark stare again, boring into her. How could she have thought that he and Vash were similar?

*****

            Knives picked up the bowl and drained the soup in one gulp. He made a face at the taste. But what could you do? A spider had made this soup after all. And there was that Meryl spider again. How she intrigued him! Those frightened looks she gave him over her back, the way she spoke in fear of him. This woman had feelings for Vash, obviously. Knives wondered if Vash had figured it out yet. His simple brother could be so dense at times, but that was because of the spiders' influence of course so he couldn't help it.

            Knives laughed maliciously to himself. This Meryl spider was perhaps the best way to hurt Vash, he was sure of it. Oh how he wished he could wrap his fingers around a gun and pull the trigger aimed at Vash's heart. Perhaps that was what he would do to Meryl to hurt Vash. 

            No, he said to himself at that thought. For some reason, Knives didn't have the urge to kill Meryl. This brought a cruel smile to his face. Ah, this spider amused him. It was entertaining really. Yes, that was why he didn't want to shoot her. This Meryl spider entertained him, he would let her live just for that.

            Placing the bowl on the floor once again, Knives felt a stab of pain his stomach. Damn these wounds, he thought, and went to sleep.


	4. Lady and Gentleman

**Sorry for the long wait! Thank you to the people who gave reviews! Hopefully you will still be interested in this story and will read it again… Anyway! There are some VxM moments, small moments, but moments nevertheless. Hopefully in the future I will be able to add in some more…**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Trigun or any of the characters. Although I really wish I owned Vash and Wolfwood…but I don't. So let me weep in peace.**

**Return Forever**

"Here you go, sir," Meryl said, placing a beer on the table at the bar.

            "Thanks miss," said the customer. He grinned widely and somehow lost forgot where his right hand was moving, and it was moving toward Meryl in the downward direction to something soft on the backside of her. Finally, the hand stopped and felt around this particular soft area on Meryl and gave a squeeze on her buttocks.

            WHAM. Meryl's hand connected with the customer's face with an unexpectedly huge impact and brought the back of her hand back again with an equally painful slap. She scooped up the beer and walked away, the customer mouthing, Buh…buh… over the loss of his beer.

            Meryl shook her head. When will men ever learn?

            "Wow! Another score for Meryl!" Vash shouted from a corner. He had observed this scene, and many other similar scenes, over many bottles of beer. He waved his current bottle happily.

            "Don't do that!" Meryl screamed and dashed over just in time to catch the beer bottle, which had suddenly flown out of Vash's hand and had been making its way down to the floor. Meryl waved the bottle in Vash's face.

            "If you break anymore bottles the boss'll take them off my paycheck!" she snarled.

            "Oh I'm sooooo sooorrryyyy, Meryl-san!" Vash said, cowering under Meryl's ferocious expression. 

            "Don't worry, I'll pay!" bawled another drunken man. "Whoops…"

            Meryl sighed, placing a finger on her temple. "What did I say about breaking bottles…" she muttered darkly, shooting them dangerous look.

            "Eh…"

            "Don't worry, Meryl-san." The boss stood behind her. "You can go home, I'll take care of this."

            "Thanks boss!" Meryl swiveled her head to glare at Vash. "Come on, you," she snarled, yanking Vash up from his arm.

            "Ow that hurts Meryl," he complained. "A pretty girl like you shouldn't be doing that to a poor little man!"

            Meryl seethed as a blush crept onto her face. She mentally screamed at herself. _Who care's if Vash called you pretty? He's drunk for crissake!_ She retained her composure and glared at the men who were now bawling with laughter. "Come on, don't make me drag you."

            But somehow, Meryl ended up dragging Vash anyway as he had made new drinking buddies and these buddies were now calling to Vash about tomorrow's drinks, and Vash just _had_ to stop and answer them. She had knocked him down and with a new found strength she literally dragged Vash to the doorway. 

            Meryl sighed and told herself to take deep, _calm, nonviolent-thinking_ breaths, at least they had finally made it outside the door. Vash was so damn _heavy_.

            "I'm _tired_," Meryl said, yawning. "I should never have taken you to my job."

            "But there's nothing to do all day in the house. Milly has her job at the mines and Knives just sleeps all day. Besides, the guys there are so _cool_," Vash said bubbly.

            "Really? I take you to work, watch over you and keep you from making trouble, and introduce you to your new, er, friends. And what have you done to thank me?" Meryl demanded crankily.

            Suddenly Meryl was on Vash, piggy-back style. She blushed, grateful that he wasn't looking at her as Vash arranged his hands on her thighs and started walking. 

            "Since you're so tired, I'll do the walking for you!" Vash said cheerfully.

            "Er….thanks…."

            "No PROBLEM!"

            "…" Meryl sighed and decided not to protest. She closed her eyes and rested her head on Vash's neck. With all the running around and worrying due to Knive's residence at their house, Meryl used to the rare opportunity to rest. Besides, it wasn't every day that she could be this close to Vash… It then occurred to Meryl that this was the wrong place to be having such thoughts as she was acutely aware of Vash's hands on her thighs and could feel those areas burning with embarrassment. Not that Vash cared.

            By the time they reached home, Meryl was fast asleep on Vash's back, her nose tickling the small of his neck, cheek on his shoulder, breath fluttering his hair slightly. Walking up the staircase, Vash smiled and turned his head to look at her. She looked so peaceful there on his shoulder. Sighing regretfully, Vash entered Meryl's room and reluctantly placed her under the bedcovers. For a moment, he wanted to get in the bed with her and almost did so when Meryl murmured and rolled over. Then Vash remembered that Meryl slapped really, REALLY hard and would probably do so in the morning. Plus, he was drunk which meant a bad hangover the next day which meant the slap would hurt even more which meant he would need more beer. So Vash's drunk mind decided that it would be a bad idea to climb under the covers with Meryl. Case closed.

            Milly had already gone home and was now asleep in her room. That meant Vash was the only person awake in the house. Well, almost the only one.

            Vash paused in front of Knives's room. He sighed and opened the door.

            Knives was lying in his customary position on the bed and staring at the ceiling. He didn't even flicker in his gaze at him when Vash entered. Vash walked over to the bed and stood there, waiting.

            It was deadly silent for a moment. They could both hear the girls' sleeping breaths from the other rooms. It was that quiet.

            Vash spoke first. "Had a good nap, Knives?"

            "Beautifully," replied Knives, voice dry and sarcastic.

            "That's good then," Vash said, smiling.

            "You didn't kill me," Knives commented. "I suppose you still follow that bitch's beliefs?"

            The smile on Vash's face notched down. "You mean Rem? You know Rem's not a bitch Knives."

            "So you still won't kill, not even me. That's so like you, pathetic."

            "No need to be like that, brother. It's not as if you could kill me."

            Knives swiveled his eyes over to Vash, who looked back with calm look. Knives brought his teeth together in a hiss. "You're growing even softer, Vash. You're even allowing me to heal. I'm surprised that Meryl woman hasn't thrown me out yet. Have you taken her virginity yet, Vash the Stampede?"

            Vash slammed his fist against the wall. "Don't talk to me like that, Knives! I am a gentleman and Meryl is the perfect lady, don't make assumptions like that."

            Knives chuckled maliciously to himself. "It's just as I suspected then," he murmured. "Ah, it's so perfect!" He grinned to Vash. "She's a very pretty lady, isn't she Vash?"

            "Don't touch her," Vash said, fighting to control his voice.

            "Oh, are you claiming her as your own? That's so possessive, brother. Isn't she a free woman, free to choose her own lovers?"

            Vash sighed. "I suppose there's no talking to you, brother. I was hoping you'd changed…" He shook his head and walked out the room.

            "She's actually very beautiful, in fact, Vash," Knives called out after him. "If you're not careful, somebody stronger than you will take her away from you." A slammed door answered him. "It could even be me," Knives finished to himself. He smiled one last evil grin and decided to sleep.


	5. Knives is back

**A/N Okay I looked at the chapter 5 that I posted originally and it turned out really jumbled! So this version should make it easier on the eyes. Thank you to the three people who have already reviewed!**

**Return Forever**

Meryl grunted and rolled over on the bed. Big mistake. She landed on the floor with a painful thump and groaned. Good thing she had taken the blanket with her. Wrapping the blanket around her, Meryl twitched slightly and fell a sleep again.

            When sun rose and hit her face, waking her up, Meryl wondered why she was on the floor. She sat up and looked around. In fact, how did she get to her room? All she remembered was resting her head on Vash's shoulder and taking a short nap…

            Sitting up, Meryl cracked her neck and rotated her shoulders, sore from sleeping on the floor. With dismay, she noticed that she had not changed from her work clothes and that they were hopelessly wrinkled now. She glanced at the clock and noted that she had slept in late today. Oh well, at least she didn't have to work today. 

Tossing on a fresh set of clothes, Meryl dreamily began to think of Vash, like the way he always had a smile on his face and if there wasn't, at least he still had a kind expression. She adoringly contemplated on twinkly, soft eyes and the way is blonde hair slipped down on his face at times. Then Meryl remembered that Vash had just piggy-backed her the night before and blushed and then slapped her cheek for blushing.

Meryl froze as she entered the kitchen. The sight of Knives sitting at the table met her eyes. The first thought that ran through her head was _we're all gonna die!_

Knives! What was he doing here? If he was up and about already than that meant that his injuries were healed now and he was not helpless anymore (not that he was ever helpless). It also didn't help that the moment Meryl had stepped in Knives had swiveled his narrowed eye and fixed his gaze on her, placing her under close scrutiny. This caused Meryl to be extremely uncomfortable. She almost opened her mouth to ask him what the hell he was looking at but didn't for fear of her life. She turned her head to look at Milly frantically. Milly smiled nervously back.

"Good morning, Sempai," Milly said, just a touch less cheerful then her usual cheery greetings and a note of fear wavering in her tone. 

"Morning," Meryl answered, shifting her eyes back to Knives, who was placidly sipping porridge. What are we going to do with him? she thought. Looking around for Vash, she sighed in dismay when he was no where to be found in the kitchen. Damn it, where was Vash when you needed him. Meryl then groaned inwardly when she remembered that Vash had gotten drunk the night before and was probably still in bed due to a hangover, which didn't help the situation at all. _Damnnitdamnnitdamnnit!!!!_

"Here you go sempai." 

Milly dumped a shaking bowl of porridge into Meryl's hands. Meryl then had no choice but to take a seat at the table. She sat down as far away as possible from Knives. What she wanted to do just then was bolt down her breakfast and run away as fast as possible but she couldn't just leave Milly with Knives alone. For crissake, this was _Knives _we were talking about, the one who wanted to destroy the human race or something evil like that. He was the one who caused Vash to kill against his will. Vash was the _last _person who would ever take a human life and looked how his life turned out. And it was all Knives's fault.

Amidst these thoughts, Meryl unintentionally glowered at Knives over her porridge. That was how Knives was in turn able to lock eyes with her and stare intensely back. Meryl shivered. She would have expected him to glare back at her but strangely he did not. The eerie expression on his face was far from glaring. This disturbed Meryl even more. Knives had an studying look on his face, as if he were trying to form a decision about her. The worst part was that she couldn't look away, that was how strongly Knives held her eyes. The next worst part was that he didn't stop staring.

This peeved her. When it came to a point where she couldn't ignore him anymore, Meryl demanded, "What are you looking at?"

A smirk curled onto Knives's face. There was an uncomfortably evil glint in his eyes right then. Meryl still couldn't look away.

"You, my little spider," he answered, face tilting down into a deeper smirk.

            There were more shivers down Meryl's spine. He had said "my little spider" in the same way the wicked witch of the west had called Dorothy "my little pretty." Why oh why couldn't she look away? That look in his eyes was just giving her the creeps.

            "Well please stop! It's rude to stare," she snapped.

            Knives sarcastically raised his eyebrows. Fortunately, this action caused him to move his eyes, thus freeing Meryl from the pit of hell and allowing her to look away. 

To her dismay, he was still staring at her. Meryl tensed and tried to look as small as possible. This didn't stop him from staring. She snapped her head around.

"Hey? What did I say about staring?" Meryl growled.

"But you are so exotic to look at," Knives said, smirking. "How can I not stare? It is like watching a beautiful bird in her natural habitat."

Meryl gulped. It was excruciatingly hard to tell if he was being sarcastic or not. 

Milly, listening to this exchange, trembled, nervously stirring the soup. There was nothing she could do to help Meryl.

It was fortunate that Vash bounced into the kitchen right at that moment.

"Good _morn_-in Milly!" he said chirpily. "Is that porridge for me? You shouldn't have!" 

Vash plopped the bowl onto the table and was about to shovel a spoonful down his throat when he caught sight of Meryl's death glare at Knives and Knives's smirk at her. He placed his spoon down.

"So, you've gotten up, brother," Vash remarked.

Meryl sighed in relief as Knives switched his gaze to Vash. 

"What of it, Vash?" Knives replied back. His smirk suddenly grew malicious, previous sarcasm gone. It was the smile of a psychopath. "Had a good sleep, brother? Did you steal any hearts in your dreams?"

Vash, with amazing self-control, calmly sipped his soup before answering. He smiled back at Knives's smirk. "Nope, not today, Knives."

"You'd better watch yourself then," Knives said, smile widening. He pushed back his chair and stood up. He paused for a moment, eyes flickering at Vash and then suddenly flashing toward Meryl. His gaze held there, eyebrows flicking up, a corner of his smile inching up. After an awkward moment of silence, he finally left the room.

Meryl clenched her fists and gritted her teeth, preventing herself from shouting _STOP STARING AT ME DAMNNIT!!! _It all she could do to keep herself from throttling Knives on the spot. Maybe Vash could do that for her later, oh wait, he couldn't. Knives was his brother after all. Inwardly, she wondered why just him staring at her made her so angry. She could answer that immediately: she didn't like the way he stared at her, it sent a tingling feeling up her spine. It wasn't the kind of tingle she felt when she looked at Vash, it was a different one, an unwanted one. It was as if he were deliberately provoking her, making her uncomfortable, it was sexual harassment that's what it is. Why the hell was he staring at her anyway? Meryl didn't accept that bull about beautiful birds anymore than she thought herself exotic. Oh wait, Knives had called her exotic too. 

"How long has he been there, Milly?" Vash asked.

"I, I don't know Vash-san," Milly answered. She started to tremble. "He just walked in suddenly and sat down. I didn't know what to do so I just greeted him and gave him some porridge." She sat down next to Meryl, placing her forehead on her hand. "He's so scary, Vash-san, how could he be your _brother?_" she whispered.

Vash smiled comfortingly. "Don't you worry Milly, you too Meryl. I won't let him do anything to you." His smile wavered and was replaced with a frown. "That bastard!" he exclaimed, surprising the girls. "Why was he staring at you Meryl? Did something happen?" he asked frantically.

This was unlike Vash. Meryl did not like to see that worried crease on his forehead nor that concerned look in his eyes. She smiled reassuringly. "It's okay Vash, don't worry. He just stared at me, that's all."

"I can't help but worry," Vash said. He sighed, toying with his spoon. "Well, I'll just finish this then. By the way, Milly this porridge is delicious!"

"Why thank you Vash-san," Milly said delightfully.

Meryl breathed out. At least Vash was back to normal now. Then a tendril of hair obstructed her view of Vash. She blew the hair away from her face frustratingly. When had her hair gotten so long? It used to be nice and short, out of her face. Now it was down to her shoulders and getting in the way of everything. She went back to her room to grab a band, tying her hair back.

"I'm going to take a walk," she called into the kitchen. "I'll be back in time for lunch."

Stepping outside, Meryl breathed in the fresh air. Ah, bliss. It was a quite morning and no Knives to be seen. 

Or so she thought. She had been walking for about five minutes when she was suddenly yanked from behind. Meryl found herself being held in somebody's strong arms, head tucked beneath someone's chin, nose in her hair. She struggled in vain.

"Let me go of me or I'll scream RAPE!" Meryl yelled at her captor. 

Knives face appeared to the side, chin resting on her shoulder. Meryl sucked in some air. Knives smirked at her frightened face.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, my little spider," he murmured in her ear.

A/N 7/31/03 Muahahaha! I just couldn't pass up this cliffhanger! Bet you're all wondering what Knives is gonna do… I'll probably update really soon, maybe sometime today…

And here's my customary plead. Could you all please please review my stories on fictionpress.com? I ask this all the time but still…pleaes?


	6. Wrong Brother

**A/N, hehehe, bet you all loved that cliffhanger in the last chapter. Some heaty scenes in this short chapter but unfortunately it's not a VxM moment. I'm sure you can guess who the guy is.**

**Return Forever**

Tightening his arm around her, pinning her arms to the side, Knives's hand reached up and entangled his fingers into Meryl's hair. Gently, he slid the ribbon out of her hair, caressing against her head at the same time. Meryl felt his nose move along her shoulder to settle buried in her hair. He took a breath, taking in the aroma.

Meryl redoubled her efforts to escape, mostly out of repulsion. "Get your hands off me, Knives," she snarled at him. She tried to kick his ankle but he held her in a position that forced her to lean against him. Thus raising her foot would cause her to lose her balance and slide to the floor, in which Knives would probably slide with her and she didn't want to know what he did then.

"Stop trying to struggle, little Meryl-spider," he whispered, face in her hair, both encircling her tighter. "It will only make the silk web grasp you more.

Meryl almost cried out in exasperation. This was the wrong time to make metaphors and she couldn't believe Knives was making one.

She felt Knives face move lower and shivered as he rested his lips against her neck. The immature part of her mind was bawling _EEEWWWWWWW!!!!!!! HE'S KISSING MY NECK! GETHIMOFF GETHIMOFF GETHIMOFF!!!! _The mature part wondered if Knives was actually attracted to her. But of course not, Knives couldn't be…okay just say it…_in love_… Meryl gave herself a mental slap and scolded herself for even thinking of such a thing. No, there was a reason to this, a sick reason, but a reason nevertheless. 

"Ah, little Meryl-spider," Knives breathed into her ear, "you shouldn't tremble like that. It suggests weakness…and you are not weak, are you Meryl-spider?"

Meryl hissed through gritted teeth. What the hell was he doing? "I don't believe this. Stop it! Why are you doing this? It's broad daylight and there're people and they can see!"

"But they can't see us, Meryl-spider."

He was right. Knives had pulled her into a dark alley. How could she have been so stupid, going out of the house alone! If Knives could go downstairs he could just as easily step outside as well. And Vash and Milly knew nothing about this, there was no one to save her now.

"Augh." Knives's mouth was now slowing moving up her neck onto her face. Meryl felt like puking right then and there and sincerely hoped he was leaving any kiss marks. His breath tickled her ear and she jerked her head away.

"Don't attempt to shrink away." Knives twisted her head around so that he could look her in the face. There was a twisted smirk on his face and his eyes had a crazed, insane glint.

Now that she could see his face, Meryl collected the saliva in her mouth and spat, aiming for his eyes. Knives turned his head and the spit missed, falling to the ground. Meryl paled and tense herself for his reaction. But it was one she didn't expect.

He chuckled maliciously to himself. "I knew I was right when I thought you were amusing. Ah, yes, little Meryl-spider, you are a challenge."

Meryl flinched at the nickname. "Stop calling me that," she hissed at him. "I'm not little or a spider. If you must address me just call me by my name for crissake."

The grin widened. Meryl cringed. It was a terrifying grin, one that made Meryl fear for her life. Knives really is insane, she thought. How could he be Vash's brother?

"But little Meryl-spider, the name is so appropriate for you. Do you know why?" Knives asked, eyes starting to widen. "Let me ask you this: if a butterfly were caught in a spider's web, how would you prevent a death from happening? If you freed the butterfly, the spider would die of starvation, yet if you left the butterfly, it would die. Vash wanted to free the butterfly, stupid fool. But my strategy is better: I would kill the spider." 

He paused as Meryl suddenly shivered in his arms. She didn't want to know the connection between her and the spider.

"Humans are spiders, little Meryl-spider. And I will kill all the spiders, leaving the butterflies to roam free," Knives said, face turning menacing. 

"Let me guess, you're a butterfly?" Meryl asked sarcastically.

"A plant, little Meryl-spider, I am a plant and so is Vash. But I think I'll keep you here with me as a small reminder of the spiders." Smirking, he said, "Vash is so protective of spiders and he tries so hard not to kill. He listened much to long to Rem's lectures about saving lives and that shit."

Meryl remembered Vash mentioning a woman named Rem before, she was like his mother or something. "Is she the one who said that nobody had the right to take away a human life? Well, she's right," she commented angrily.

Knives stared at her intensely for a moment. "I see," he remarked dryly. "Your ideals are much like that bitch's beliefs, that's why Vash is so attracted to you." Before Meryl could wonder about that comment, Knives said, "But you are still pure, Vash hasn't claimed you yet, has he? Then I'll just have to take you first."

At this moment, Knives suddenly twisted Meryl around and slammed his mouth against hers. Meryl choked at the touch of his lips and opened her lips for air, but found none. Instead, she gasped as Knives's tongue suddenly invaded her mouth. She couldn't pull away, his arms around her prevented that. She was pressed so tightly against his body that Meryl couldn't move. And Knives continued to press on.

A whirl of thoughts sped through Meryl's head. By god, this was disgusting. It absolutely repulsed her that Knives's tongue was in her mouth. Why was he kissing her? She hated the feeling of his warm body against hers.

Regretfully, Meryl despaired that she had to be in this situation with Knives. It was the wrong brother, she thought, grimacing as Knives moved into her throat. She wouldn't have minded this attention if it were Vash kissing her.

_Vash please come save me!_

Walking up the staircase, Vash opened Knives's room and peeked inside. When he saw the empty room, he frowned and shut the door. Where was that damn brother of his? After a quick run through the house, Vash concluded that Knives was no where in the house. That left outside the house. 

"Milly, do you know where Knives is?" he asked.

"No Vash-san," Milly answered, a worried expression on her face. "I'm worried about Meryl-sempai. She's all alone outside the house and Knives is no where to be seen…" Suddenly, she shoved Vash out the door. "Go look for Sempai, Vash-san! And bring her back home! I trust you, Vash-san!"

"Um, okay…" When Milly shut the door, Vash shook his head. Meryl could have gone anywhere, and Knives…well he didn't know about him. 

Looking around, he caught sight of a trail of footsteps. He followed them, hopefully thinking that Meryl would be at the end of the trail.

Vash stopped sharply and looked up. The sight of Knives locking lips with Meryl fell before his eyes. He froze, a pang of jealousy stabbing his chest at this sight but softened when he saw the frightened expression on Meryl's face. He dashed up to them and swung his fist back.

A/N I apologize for the shortness of this chapter, well for all the chapters really. I'm sure you all hate me now for leaving you cut off here. But don't worry! I will most certainly update very soon once I actually have something written! 

**REVIEWREVIEWREVIEW!!!!!!!**


	7. Brotherly Love

**A/N Bet you all loved that cliffhanger last time. I'm sorry but I love writing cliffhangers. Think about it, at least it assures me that you guys will come back to read the rest right? Okay, this chapter is pretty emotional so take out your handkerchiefs just in case. Oh, and by the way, this story is almost finished. I think there'll only be about one or two chapters left and that's all. I'm planning a new fanfic, an Escaflowne fic, check my bio for more info.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Trigun or any of the characters. Although I really wish I owned Vash and Wolfwood…but I don't. So let me weep in peace.**

**Return Forever**

. Perhaps Vash's punch would have crushed another man's face. Knives was not another man. His head snapped to the side, taking his mouth from Meryl's with him.

Meryl immediately leaned away, gasping for air. Unfortunately, although Knives was momentarily taken unawares, his grip on her did not lesson and thus making it useless to attempt to escape. She looked around for the owner of the fist and saw her savior.

"Vash!" exclaimed Meryl in both relief and hope.

Vash rubbed his fist thoughtfully. "You still have a hard head, brother."

There was a click as the mechanisms in his fake arm and his automatic gun notched into place and swung up to Knives's face. Vash blinked slightly, he had taken the gun out instinctively without thinking. He hadn't really meant to take up arms but there was no stopping now. Good thing his instincts were sharp then. 

"Let go of Meryl," he said, eyes meeting Knives's.

"Or what?" Knives replied tauntingly, eyebrow raised, undaunted at the gun in his face.

Meryl looked from Vash to Knives, worried. She knew Vash would never actually shoot Knives, at least not to kill.

Knives shifted Meryl to one arm and placed his free hand on the notch of Vash's gun. "You know, Vash, you've shot me three times already and I survived them all. Do you really think shooting me now will get rid of me?"

"It won't kill," Vash notched the gun up to Knives's face, "but it'll do damage."

"Ha! Of course it won't kill you fool! You'd never kill _me _of all people!"

"Even though you deserve it most," Meryl murmured under her breath.

She regretted her words instantly. Being so close to Knives, he could naturally hear it. A hand clipped under her chin and jerked it up.

Knives wide, crazed eyes peered at her face wildly. "Trying to make me angry are you, little Meryl-spider?" he whispered.

"Don't touch her!" Vash yelled. 

Without looking away, Knives replaced a hand on Vash's gun and shoved him back, sending Vash into a wall.

Frightened, Meryl trembled as Knives's face inched closer. 

"I meant what I said about spiders, I'm going to get rid of them all," Knives breathed in her face. Seeing her tremble, Knives smiled. "Don't be so scared, little Meryl-spider. I won't destroy you with all the others. You'll stay with me."

"You psycho," Meryl snarled at him. "You're crazy, Knives."

Knives's mouth parted to reply but then his eyes swiveled to the side. Meryl followed his gaze to the gun once again pointed at his face.

"Shove me fall down, I'll just get back up again," said Vash, carefully aiming. "Don't make me say it again, _let go of Meryl_."

Vash looked different right there. Meryl could see the reluctance in his eyes to draw his gun. She saw the deeper need to kill his brother right then and there for all his sins, but there was reluctance mixed into that too, Vash didn't want to take a human life again. That part was normal. What was different was the way he held his arm steady and his aim true, he really was prepared to pull the trigger on his brother, he was just waiting for an excuse not to. If Vash were normal, only misfortunate circumstances would make him pull it and he wouldn't even be aiming correctly at that. But now, Vash's will was on the trigger as well, he would pull it willingly if he had to. 

_What could make him this way?_ Meryl thought. _What could motivate him to be so…prepared to kill? _The answer was obvious to anyone else: it was herself. The answer it hit her with a smack, but Meryl wasn't prepared to believe it.

Both brothers were staring at each other, challenging each other. Knives had noticed this subtle change in Vash as well. 

"You're actually going to shoot, aren't you?" Knives asked, voice soft with surprise.

"I don't want to, brother, but I will if I have to," Vash said firmly.

"My god! _You're actually going to shoot me, for the fourth time_!"  **(A/N okay I'm just speculating on the three times part, it works with the phrase "three times a charm." I THINK Vash only shot Knives three times if you count the one on the last episode, but feel free to contradict me. ^-^)**

"I don't have to if you let go of Meryl," Vash replied.

"_Isn't three times enough, Vash? Must you shoot me a fourth time?!"_

"You give me no choice, Knives!" Vash yelled. He notched the gun again warningly. "I'm not just threatening to do this for Meryl! I'm threatening because of all the pain you've caused me! How many innocent lives have you made me take, Knives? Do you know how much I've suffered all this time? Huh? _Do you?_" 

Vash was taking hard breaths now. His eyes were hard and his voice passionate. Knives stared at him silently as he went on.

"It's not just for me either. It's for Rem, for what you did to Rem and the rest of the crew on Project Seed. If it weren't for you they'd all still be alive. Maybe they would even have made their dream of a living planet come true and there'd be no need to kill. Damn it Knives, we would have been happy, _you _would have been happy. Rem loved us, Knives, she even loved you for all you're worth. She just wanted to teach us, about life and the world. That's what you've been working for all this time, isn't it Knives? You want to kill the spiders so that you can give the butterflies life. _Well that's what Rem taught us about all this time!_ If you hadn't killed her she would have taught us how to save _both _butterflies _and _spiders._ But you killed her before she had the chance!_"

"How do you know this?" Knives asked, challenging him. "How do you know that bitch knows all that? She doesn't know anything about life! If you want life to continue, you have to sacrifice something in return. And sometimes that sacrifice is others."

"How do I know? I know because I knew Rem best! You never stopped to think about her words; maybe if you had then you'd be different. But instead you decided to be selfish and take their lives."

"_How dare you call me selfish you stinking bastard." _

Meryl shrank away from Knives's hand, still on her chin and he let it go distractedly. Knives looked frightening now that he was enraged. His grip on her tightened painfully.

"You think I'm _selfish? Me? _If I were selfish I would have left you at the crash wreckage to die. Don't you remember? I took care of you all those years afterward. I gave you that gun. I was willing to share my success with you. I wanted to create a world where nobody would kill each other so that _you _wouldn't have to kill. I was thinking about you all along. Why? Because I cared about you, _brother_," Knives spat. "And how do you repay me? _You shot me._ _And you call me the selfish one?"_

Vash's grip on the gun shook angrily. "Look Knives, I agree that three times is enough. Please don't make me do this. It's simple, let go of Meryl, she won't run away, will you?"

Meryl disagreed but nodded anyway.

"Come on, Knives," Vash pleaded desperately. 

Knives seemed to contemplate for a moment. "Three times shooting is enough for you to do Vash," he said softly. He slid down the gun to Vash's hand, which he gripped. "You won't forgive me until I'm dead, but you won't let me die. Am I twisted enough to make someone like you feel that way?"

Knives turned his head to Meryl, who flinched at his gaze. "I was serious when I said that I wouldn't kill you, Meryl. I really was going to spare your life."

Meryl stared, moved. "What do you mean?" she whispered.

"I really wanted you to stay with me," Knives answered. He flicked his eyes at Vash. "I really did care, Vash," he said grimly.

Suddenly, Vash felt his fingers shoved aside out of the gun, Knives now held the trigger. 

Smiling, Knives swung the gun up to his mouth and parted his lips. Closing his eyes, Knives pulled the trigger.

"_No Knives no!_" Vash screamed as Knives's head jerked back from the gun's impact, a spray of bright blood splattering the ground.

His body crumpled against Meryl's. Meryl cringed as Knives's body forced her to the ground. Her heart was racing and her breaths were ragged. His arm still gripped her tightly, his heavy body pinned her down. Knives's head fell face-down next to Meryl's, blood dripping in his white-blonde hair. At that moment, Meryl really thought she was going to lay there with the corpse on top of her forever. She closed her eyes and lay her head back.

Knives's body was lifted off her. Meryl felt body heat nearby. She opened her eyes wearily and looked up at Vash's tear-streaked face.

Vash looked up at her, eyes sad. Knives lay somewhere to the side. He gave Meryl and hand and pulled her up. Spotting her hair ribbon on the ground, Vash picked it up and gently tied it back into her hair.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"I'm fine," Meryl said dully. She wasn't sure if she was lying or not.

"Good." 

Meryl could see Vash trying to smile, trying to act his usual self as if nothing had happened. She watched him fail.

"Meryl?" Vash whispered, like a small child.

Meryl held out her arms and caught Vash as he sagged forward. Vash's weight was too much for Meryl to handle and she sank to her knees, Vash clutching her and crying in her shoulder.

"I didn't mean to do it, Meryl," Vash rasped. "I didn't want to but I did it anyway-"

"You didn't shoot him, Vash," Meryl said reassuringly. "You saw it. Knives forced your hand away and shot himself. You didn't shoot him," she repeated.

"But it was my gun that killed him," Vash whispered hoarsely.

Meryl couldn't deny that and said nothing. She stroked Vash's head soothingly, trying to ease the pain while Vash sobbed silently. She didn't know how long they stayed there, she didn't even notice the cramping in her legs. Meryl only saw Vash's pain.

In the end, Vash sat back, picked up Knives's body and walked back, Meryl walking next to him. They were respectfully silent, as if they were walking in Knives's funeral march. As they reached the house, Vash said to Meryl, "Go inside without me, I'd like to be alone now." Meryl nodded.

Milly opened the door just as Meryl raised her hand to the doorknob. "Oh Sempai!" Milly exclaimed and threw her arms around Meryl. "Sempai, oh Sempai, I was so worried. I shouldn't have let you out of the house alone, I'm so sorry! I just stupidly thought Knives had gone back to his room and…" Milly trailed off and looked around. "Where is Knives-san anyway?"

Meryl looked out the window and pointed wordlessly. Vash had lain Knives down on the ground and had somehow found a shovel. He was vigorously digging. Meryl and Milly watched silently as he dug a grave and carefully lay Knives down in it, and bury him. Before laying the last bit of soil onto the grave, Vash paused and reached inside his pocket. He took out something small and round and cautiously placed it down. He tossed the last bit of soil over it. He reached behind him and picked up a cup of water and sprinkled the water onto it. Vash then picked up a stake and marked the grave.

"What did you bury with Knives?" Meryl asked Vash as he walked in.

Vash paused and looked at her. "When I and Knives fought, there was a tree near by. Before I left, I picked an acorn from that tree in hopes of growing some more trees like it." He smiled wearily. "Maybe by planting that acorn with Knives, I'm giving him life again, you know? Maybe it'll work."

"Vash, it wasn't your fault," Meryl insisted.

Vash held up a hand, cutting her off. "Do you want to use the bath first, Meryl?" he asked.

Surprised at this odd question, Meryl nodded. She felt surprisingly dirty for some reason that she didn't know.

As she filled the bath in the bathroom, Meryl soon realized that she didn't feel so much as dirty but unclean. Meyrl could still feel warm in the places where Knives had touched her. The skin on her neck was crawling and her cheeks felt smudgy. Meryl rubbed her face and she couldn't shake off that feeling of uncleanness. She hurriedly stepped into the bath, restless to get this feeling away. She splashed her face with water. Moaning, she could still feel the soft touch of Knives's lips on her face and neck. Then she held her mouth to her lips. Horrified, she spat, trying to get the taste of Knives out. Rapidly she grabbed the bar of soap and rubbed her face with it. She still couldn't shake the feeling of Knives off of her. She even washed her mouth out with the soap.

Meryl finally leaned against the tub, exhausted after the many washings. She was vaguely aware that her skin was red from the soap, somehow she couldn't care less. She put her face in her hands and started to cry.

_What is it with Knives?_

Knives had said that he would have let her live after he killed all of the humans, he would have kept her with him. That sounded almost as if he were in love with her or something. Was he finally getting a heart then? 

Meryl was so confused. She wiped the tears from her face and climbed out of the tub. Perhaps she would never understand those layers and layers underneath Knives, but then did she really want to?

She found Vash in his room. Meryl stopped to look at him. Vash had that same gentle, fragile look on his face as he did when he had killed Legato. There was that sadness, that innocent sadness that he didn't and would never deserve.

Vash started in surprise when Meryl hugged him. He glanced down at Meryl, whose face was buried in his chest, and laid an arm around her.

"Why're you doing this?" he asked.

"You looked like you needed a hug" Meryl explain, tightening her arms around him.

Vash gave a small smile above her head. "Why aren't you afraid of me?" he asked quietly.

Meryl looked up at him in surprise. "Don't you know already?"

Vash smiled sadly and said, "Right, sorry." He was silent for a moment. "I'm a monster," he said.

"_You're not a monster, Vash!" _Meryl said furiously. "I'd better not hear you say that ever again!"

"Right." Vash began to look even more fragile. "But how can you stand someone like me, Meryl? How?"

Meryl stared at him incredulously. Then without thinking, she leaned forward and gently gave him a small kiss. It took a moment for both of them to register this action.

"Ah," Meryl gasped. "Sorry," she said, shyly. What had come over her right then? She was about to look away but found Vash's sad eyes on hers. They both leaned toward each other and gave each other a deeper kiss.

A/N I'm sure all the Knives fans hate me now, but hey, at least Knives had a turn of conscience, right? Thanks to everyone who's been reviewing, wow, 15 review in one day, I'm gonna faint! Well, then again that's not very much compared to other people, I mean, I've seen someone who got 200 reviews o.0

**By the way, when you review, can someone please tell me the name of the insurance company that Meryl and Milly work for? I forgotten at the moment.**


	8. Marital Matters

**A/N Ah, saw Spy Kids 3D today. People, do yourselves a favor and save some money and don't see this movie. It is such a waste of time. I can't believe that Selma Hayek and Elijah Woods were in it (sorry if I spelled their names wrong). **

**This is the last chapter of Return Forever! I really hope you like the ending!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Trigun or any of the characters. Although I really wish I owned Vash and Wolfwood…but I don't. So let me weep in peace.**

**Return Forever**

Meryl took a deep breath and started to walk. Okay, she thought to herself, just take it one step at a time, one foot in front of the other. Just do that and you won't-

Too late. Meryl's foot somehow found its way onto a random rock in the way and Meryl tripped dangerously.

Gritting her teeth and sincerely wishing that high heeled shoes would go to hell, Meryl righted herself, smoothed out her dress and continued to walk. When she reached the aisle, she stopped and turned to smile at the handsome groom.

Vash grinned back at her and held out an arm. His wife-to-be took it and walked the few remaining steps to the priest.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here-" the priest began.

Vash was already starting to fidget in boredom. Meryl discreetly jabbed him in the side and Vash tried his best to flinch. But still, he was grinning.

"You know this speech stuff bores me," he whispered out of the corner of his mouth.

"Don't you dare ruin my wedding or you will be sorry until the day you die," Meryl hissed back.

Vash flinched. He didn't doubt that he would be sorry and certainly until the day he died. So, he straightened his back in an effort to show that he _could _be a gentleman. Meryl smiled in approval at his efforts and waited for the priest to get to the more interesting parts…like the kissing part for example.

There was an eerie touch on her neck. Meryl flicked her eyes to the side. Nothing there. Must be her premarital nerves. As she settled back into the mood, there was a soft flutter by her cheek.

Meryl's eyes snapped to the side. Okay, there was definitely something playing a joke on her. Who would dare make fun of her, the bride? She was about to slowly look around for the joker and sucked in her breath.

There was a hazy image of Knives standing next to her, watching. It grinned at her widely. 

_It's just my imagination_, Meryl thought to herself. _Knives is not standing next to me because he is not there. He is not there. He is not there. _She said that to herself again and again but she kept an eye on the image of Knives. Then Knives lifted his hand. 

_He is not the-_

There was that soft touch again. Knives stroked her cheek with unusual gentleness. The grin turned into a strange smile. A kind smile.

Meryl could feel Vash shift next to her and she knew that he was gazing at Knives as well.

Knives looked up at Vash and the smile grew even stranger. For a moment, Knives had the face of an innocent child. 

"Do you, Vash Savorem, take this Meryl Stryfe to be your beloved wife?" the priest said through it all.

Vash snapped to attention. "Yes I do. I do I do I do. I repeat, yes I-"

"We understand already," Meryl said, poking him. Vash grinned and grabbed her hand, efficiently sliding the ring on.

"And do you, Meryl Stry-"

"I do," Meryl cut in. Knives was making her nervous and she suddenly wanted to get his over with. She slipped the ring onto Vash's finger and looked around at Knives, only to find that he moved in front of them. He completely blocked the priest, who didn't seem to notice him.

Knives looked them both in the eye and down at their joined hands. He seemed to sigh. He said, "Goodbye, beloved," and turned away, disappearing into thin air.

Meryl and Vash could only gap in shock, ignorant of the cheers behind them. It was later that they figured out that it was a ghost of Knives, which explained why no one else seemed to acknowledge his presence. After a moment it occurred to them that they were now married and they kissed each other in sheer joy of that fact.

"Oh Meryl-sempai!" cried Milly, belly bulging. It had been a shock to everyone when Milly came back from the doctor with news that she was pregnant. The main questions asked were _Who? WHEN?_ The answers? Wolfwood was the father to most people's surprise. And when? The night before Wolfwood's death. When everyone had gotten over the fact of the mere possibility of Milly being pregnant, they sincerely congratulated Milly and looked forward to the birth of the baby. It did create some minor complications as Milly was going to be Meryl's partner in establishing a new branch of the insurance company, but the baby was more important and Meryl was happy to do the job by herself. At least they still both had their jobs.

Meryl hugged Milly, the maid of honor. Vash tugged her arm and whispered that they were supposed to walk back and have people throw rice at them. Rolling her eyes, Meryl allowed herself to be pulled at a running sprint down the aisle while the guests showered them with rice.

The wedding celebrations were joyous, festive, and loud. And of course, a valid and legitimate reason to get drunk. The details are not necessary to describe this wonderful day. And neither is the details describing the wedding night between the bride and groom. 

So Vash returned to Meryl and was by her side forever.

They lived somewhat happily ever after but it was a loud happily ever after if not an odd one.

The End 

A/N Well, that's the end! I kinda rushed through the end because I really want to get started on my Escaflowne fic, which I hope you guys will check out since I will probably upload it tomorrow. I really hope you guys like this ending! Thank you so much for all those who have been reviewing!!!!

**By the way, about Milly's pregnancy. Maybe some people will criticize me for not being true to the story at that, but let me state my reasons because I think it is very possible that Milly could have gotten pregnant. First off, in the episode where Wolfwood dies (*sob* T___T) Milly sleeps over at his place and we see her asleep in his bed. Wolfwood is standing near the window, smoking a cigarette with his shirt off (*drool*) So therefore it is highly possible that they had sex that night, thus getting Milly pregnant in this fic.**

**Oh nevermind. Just review.**


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